Michael Hawkins Jr.

#3 · QB · R-So. · West Virginia6′1″ · 205 lb · Dallas, TX · Frisco Emerson

ZPR6724th of 119 QBsLast gameW 24–20at TCU · Oct 24
Nextat Texas TechSat Nov 7 · 9:30 pm ET
via wvusports.com ↗

West Virginia is 4-3 in the seven games with 10 or more passes thrown. A dual-threat quarterback who throws deeper than most.

Strongest: 20% of throws gain 20 or more yards, 2nd best of 158 starters. Weakest: sacked on 9% of dropbacks, 17th highest of 158 starters.

Passing yards

1,598

90 of 159, 57%

TD–INT

11–2

10.1 per throw

NCAA rating

161.3

22nd of 119

ZPR

67

24th of 119

How ZPR works

Boom or bust: great in 3, shaky or worse in 2.

Best by our grade: Cincinnati. Lowest: Oklahoma State, with 1 interception and sacked 4 times. Biggest game: Virginia, No. 25.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

Season

Steady through the game

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game; on games with a lot of running it grades the passing only. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Dual-threat

Also: deep thrower, big-play arm

Why this word
Runs17.0 a gameRarelyA lot
Throws13.4 yards past the lineShortDeep
Completes59% by play-by-playFewerMore
Takes sacks9% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws deeper than most and runs a lot. 17.0 carries a game. No close match: the nearest neighbors are Osborne, Kienholz, Purdie, Castellanos ’25.

Where the throws go

Behind the line10%typical 17%
Short39%typical 47%
Middle21%typical 22%
Deep30%typical 14%

Runs 17.0 times a game; 99% of starters run less.

Closest in style

OsborneKienholzPurdieCastellanos ’25This QB

Nearer the middle means more alike.

  • Osborne UConn · Vertical passer
    1,857 yards, 14 TD, 2 INT so far. Both miss more and take sacks.
  • Kienholz Louisville · Dual-threat
    2,094 yards, 12 TD, 3 INT so far. Both protect the ball and are efficient.
  • Purdie Liberty · Vertical passer
    1,453 yards, 10 TD, 1 INT so far. Both rarely throw behind the line and score a lot.
  • Castellanos ’25 Florida State 2025 · Vertical passer
    2,760 yards, 15 TD, 9 INT. Both are efficient and miss more.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

  • RecordWest Virginia is 5-3.
  • Last gameOct. 24 · a win over TCU, 79 passing yards.
  • What fans say

    Over the last few games, West Virginia fans have been high on Hawkins.

    “Another week another Michael Hawkins TD run 😤”

    “If we win, I love you Michael Hawkins Jr.”

    “Why does Michael Hawkins look twice as fast as he did the first two games”

    From r/CFB game threads. Read by AI.

  • Next gameat Texas Tech · Sat Nov 7

What’s being said

5 stories this week, from 3 outlets.

Oct 30: 1Oct 31: 2Nov 1: 1Nov 2: 1Oct 29Nov 4Most in a day: 2
Oct 30: 1Oct 31: 2Nov 1: 1Nov 2: 1Oct 29Nov 4Most in a day: 2
Stories per day.

West Virginia's Cam Cook and Michael Hawkins closing in on 1,000 rushing yards

On3 Nov 1

All 76 stories this season

Worth knowing

  • Michael Hawkins Jr. had 464 passing yards in the 45-42 win over Cincinnati, the most in FBS that week.
  • Michael Hawkins Jr. spent two seasons at Oklahoma before this one.

His most important play this season

  1. Q4, 5:04 · West Virginia down 3, takes the leadMichael Hawkins Jr. finds DJ Epps for a 47-yard touchdownWest Virginia at Iowa State, week 5Q4, 5:04 · West Virginia 42, Iowa State 38▲33%West Virginia’s chance to win, 21% to 54%▲33%West Virginia’s chance to win, 21% to 54%M.Hawkins Jr. pass complete deep right to D.Epps caught at ISU23, for 47 yards to the ISU00 touchdown, 1ST DOWN, kick goodWatch from this play Big 12 Conference

All 17 of his plays on video

Michael Hawkins Jr.

QB · West Virginia · #3

Runs when the pocket breaks down. Played for two head coaches at two programs in three seasons: Brent Venables and Rich Rodriguez. On tape: 464 passing yards and 77 rushing yards against Cincinnati, Week 7, 2026.

1,598 passing yards · 11 passing TD · 836 rushing yards